Roanoke, VA - The first home game of the new year saw Hollins welcome Virginia Wesleyan College to town for a Saturday afternoon game.  The defending Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Champion Marlins came into the matchup looking for their second conference win in a row while Hollins looked to rebound from a loss to Emory & Henry earlier in the week.

Neither team could get much going in the early stages of the game and after more than three minutes of play, Hollins held a 1-0 advantage.  Midway through the opening quarter, the two ODAC foes began to find their range and at the end of the first period the defending champs enjoyed a 16-10 lead.  Hollins quickly cut the deficit to four but as the second frame progressed, Hollins found themselves down eight points.  After a late three pointer by the Marlins, it was the visitors that enjoyed a double digit cushion at the break, 30-19.

The third quarter started harmlessly enough, with Hollins scoring the first points of the third 10 minutes.  However, the home team struggled to find any sort of consistency on the offensive end and that lead to some defensive breakdowns, allowing Virginia Wesleyan to get out in transition and start to pull away.  As the clock started to wind down, Hollins found themselves in a big hole as the Marlins used a 24-8 quarter to all but put the game out of reach.  Hollins finished on a good note, their highest scoring period of the game, but Hollins failed to record their first ODAC win of the season as they fell to the Marlins, 72-40.

Sally Sroge (Louisville, CO) battled foul trouble throughout the afternoon en route to a team high 10 points and four rebounds.  Junior Porsha Waddey (Roanoke, VA) grabbed 10 rebounds to go with her six points and fellow junior Jewellanna Parfitt (Roanoke, VA) added six points, eight rebounds, and three steals.

Senior Kelly Jones led a balanced Marlins attack with 15 points, on the back of her 3-9 shooting from long range.  Crystal Strother registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Raya Berkley and Jayla Harris each scored 12 points.

Hollins will defend it's home court once again this coming Wednesday night when they play host to Guilford College.  The game with the Quakers is scheduled to tip at 7:00pm.